The morning arrived shrouded in fog , and from the way the sky was twisting with shades of grey and white, Marigold knew snow was on the horizon.
The group all got up early, settling down to their last breakfast together before Angelina, Bernie and Winslow headed home. At eleven on the dot, Marigold, Elin and Diego watched from the platform as the glistening red train slid from Hogsmeade station, before disappearing into the Scottish countryside.
From the station, the trio walked together back up the hill towards the castle. The corridors were completely deserted and a part of Marigold loved hearing the sounds of the wind whistling through the empty castle.
At lunch, the sun began to peek out from behind a patch of clouds and Elin suggested they ate out by the lake. Stopping at the Hall, they stacked plates with sandwiches, mini chicken-pies, fruit and whatever else they could carry across the grounds, finding a spot near the edge of the water: in the shade of the pine tree.
Marigold lay back on her arms, watching the leaves of the tree rustle above her. The lake rippled a few feet from them and she could hear the whistle of the wind over the grounds. Marigold bit into her cheese sandwich, turning her head to watch as Diego bounced a red ball off the trunk of the tree.
"Any creature?" Elin hummed in consideration, "Maybe a unicorn."
Diego scoffed, "I knew you were gonna say that. I want a dragon ... or maybe a phoenix. If it has anything to do with fire, it's immediately cool."
When Marigold had decided that she was staying, one of her biggest fears had been that she would be the only one left at the castle - so, when she found out that Elin and Diego were staying, she couldn't have been happier.
Elin's mums were off in Greece on what Elin relayed as a "second honeymoon", and it was easier for Diego and Rodrigo to stay at Hogwarts than to travel back to Madrid. Either way, she was glad they were there.
"Mm," Marigold allowed her mind to drift away with the theoretical question Diego had presented, "One of those giant three-headed dogs, don't know what they're called. I'd want one of those."
Elin swallowed down her lactose tablet before looking at Marigold incredulously, "Why on Earth would you want one of those?"
"They're cool, it's like having a giant puppy."
"You know," Diego's hair blew into his face as he spoke, "Apparently, there's one in the castle. One of those three-headed dogs."
Marigold perched herself up on her elbows, "Don't talk shite, Diego."
"I'm being serious!"
Elin chuckled, rolling her eyes at the dark haired boy before taking a bite into a piece of apple pie. "Not even Dumbledore's sneaky enough to hide a three-headed dog in a building full of students. Don't be mental."
"Apparently, that's what's hidden in the third-floor corridor. Students aren't allowed in there, they could easily hide it."
Marigold rolled over onto her side to pick a dark-red cherry off one of the serviettes and pop it into her mouth, "On another completely unrelated note, I invited Zach to sit with us at dinner tonight."
Both sets of eyes fell on her, they were unmistakably heavy.
"Zach? You mean that prat that said all that stuff about Ced at the DA meeting?" Diego had sat up from where he was lying down to face Marigold, the anger on his features was unmistakeable. "The one who called you out in front of everybody, dragging Ced's memory through the mud?"
"Diego, it's not like that, it's just--"
Elin piped up from where she sat, "And after all that stuff he said to you at the quidditch match?"
Diego's head whipped towards Marigold again, "The quidditch match? What did he say to you at the quidditch match?"
Sending Elin a "why did you say that" look, Marigold tried to explain her way out of what was looking to be a not-so-easy transition into allowing Zach to sit with them. "It was nothing, Diego, all I was going to say--"
Before she could state her case, Elin had interrupted her again. "He told Goldie that because she likes George that she's going to cost their team the Cup! Or something like that."
"The bastard!" Diego was growing redder in the face, his chest rising, "You're allowed to like George all you want! Doesn't mean it will mess with your captaining."
"That's what I said." Elin commented airily.
By then, a bright pink brush of blush was splashed across Marigold's cheeks. "I--" It suddenly felt harder to string together a sentence, "I don't like George, he's a friend."
Diego emitted a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a laugh, "Oh, come off it, Goldie. Of course you like George."
She avoided their eyes, the last thing she expected bringing Zach up would do was force them into having this conversation. "Wha-- how ... how did you know? Did Win tell you?"
"It's fairly obvious," Elin commented, lifting a strawberry to her lips and biting into it. "You two look at each other like two lost puppies sharing a bone."
The burn on Marigold's cheeks was enough that she brought her hands to cover her face and she groaned from behind them. "That's embarrassing." She mumbled.
"Actually, I'm extremely offended that you told Win before me," Diego piped up, he seemed to have calmed down just slightly. "I'm the expert when it comes to romance, ladies and gents alike."
Marigold smiled slightly, lifting her head from her hands to look at him. "I wasn't planning on telling him, it just ... came out."
"Yeah, yeah. As long as I'm your maid of honor at the wedd--"
Tossing a grape at his head, Marigold laughed, "Diego, shut up."
"Getting back onto topic," She continued, "I know Zach did all that stuff, and I'm not excusing them at all. He can be a prat ... but he's a prat that's alone here for Christmas and he's my friend, mostly. Despite his ... flaws."
Diego and Elin exchanged considerate glances, Elin shrugged. She turned to Marigold after a moment, "If you say he's an alright bloke, then I believe you. I'm okay with him joining us. It's the Hufflepuff thing to do."
"Thanks, El."
They both looked to Diego. He sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes before flopping back onto the blanket. "Fine. I suppose even pricks don't deserve to spend the Christmas holidays alone."
Marigold smiled, "Love you guys." She leaned in and trapped them both between her arms, Diego grumbled but wrapped his arms over her shoulders all the same, and Elin pecked her on the cheek.
__________
Dinner came quickly. The trio had spent most of the day down by the lake, Elin taught them how to skip rocks and they read each other riddles off the packets of the chewing gum Marigold had picked up from Honeydukes a few weeks before.
The Great Hall was eerily hollow. Only thirty or so students had stayed behind for the holidays, and they were so spaced out over the four tables it seemed that there was hardly anyone at all.
Marigold, Elin and Diego had been sitting at the Gryffindor table (three of almost nine others) for nearly twenty minutes and Marigold still hadn't spotted Zach. A part of her wondered whether he purposefully wasn't coming, or whether he'd forgotten about her invitation entirely.
Diego spooned a towering fork of mashed potatoes into his mouth, "Doesn't even bother showing up--"
At that exact moment, a head of long black hair and a thin set of shoulders entering the Hall caught her eyes. Zach was standing in the doorway, his hands in is pockets and looking slightly awkward as he surveyed the room. Marigold caught his eye, she smiled and waved him over.
She could feel Diego's irritated glare radiating off of him, she pinched him in the side before whispering, "Be nice."
Zach's eyes were flickering up and down the Gryffindor table in a nervous fashion, but the other Gryffindors hardly recognized him approaching, so he took a tentative seat opposite Marigold.
"Hey," His voice was wary and he nodded in greeting at Diego and Elin.
"Zach," Marigold tried to offer up as comforting a smile as she could muster, "These are my friends. This is Elin, and this is Diego."
Diego's eyes were still hostile, but he sent the Hufflepuff a short "hey, man."
"Hi." Elin squeaked almost directly after him.
The awkwardness between them was so tangible, Marigold leaned over in an attempt to force casualness by dishing some rice onto her plate. "What'd you do all day, Zach?"
Admittedly, the first few moments of dinner had been tense, but to Marigold's utmost surprise, by the time the crumbs of dessert had vanished from their plates, both Diego and Elin were smiling and even laughing at a story Zach was recounting to them.
"And then, with her face completely covered in mud," Zach was struggling to tell the story between his own laughter. "She stood up, and then took off on the Ravenclaw beater's broomstick!"
Beside Marigold, Diego had his head thrown back and was wheezing, his hand pressed against his then aching stomach muscles. Elin was trying to suppress the sound of her giggles behind her hand, her face was pink.
"It was raining, how was I supposed to know it wasn't my broom!" She attempted to defend her actions, but it only made them laugh harder.
Zach had been relaying the events of one of their first quidditch matches against Ravenclaw when they were in third year, and while she generally found the story quite embarrassing, the sight of two of her friends bubbling with laughter made it hard for Marigold not to join in on the joyfulness.
She glanced around to find the Hall almost completely deserted. The teachers had long since disappeared into the staff-only side of the castle, and the only other people still lounging around at the tables were two Ravenclaw girls.
"I think we should get out of here." Elin commented, grabbing a last strawberry off the rapidly disappearing platters of dessert.
Marigold agreed, "Where to? It's too early for bed."
"We could go play Infinite Remedy." Elin suggested, an excited look on her face.
"Yeah!" Diego agreed, he turned to Zach, "You're joining us, right?"
Zach looked unsure, "I've never heard of that game, I don't know how to play."
They went to stand, "It's a game we invented in second year. Don't worry," Marigold reassured him, "Diego'll teach you."
He nodded, and Diego began explaining to Zach the logistics of Infinite Remedy.
Marigold exchanged looks with Elin, "That went a lot smoother than I had anticipated."
Elin nodded, "He's still got things to make up for, but he doesn't seem altogether terrible."
Marigold smiled, perhaps having Zach around wouldn't be so bad after all.
__________
The days grew deeper into November at the castle, Marigold, Elin, Diego and Zach spent almost all their time together.
They'd sleep until past ten each day, breakfasts were quiet and Marigold's favourite part of the day. In the first few weeks, they'd spend their afternoons down by the lake, but by the time November drew to a close, it was far too cold at the water - so they spent the time lounging around in front of the fire in the Hufflepuff common room.
In the beginning, things with Zach had been fairly awkward, but, to Marigold's surprise, Elin and - more specifically - Diego accepted Zach into their company fairly quickly. That first dinner had seemed to do the trick, and Marigold could see that Diego enjoyed having another boy around.
In the afternoons, Diego borrowed them his muggle paints and they would paint rocks they collected along the shoreline, some days they played Wizard's Chess or Gobstones, other days they'd simply sit and read in silence - enjoying each other's company. When the sun shone, the four would take broomsticks down to the quidditch pitch - they got to witness Elin's first go at flying a broom since first year, and offered her a few tips to make it easier. She was getting better at it. They'd reached a point where they could toss a quaffle between them, and Diego would chase Zach up the sides of the lollipop goalposts.
Despite all the fun she was having, Marigold struggled to keep the thoughts of Cedric at bay. It was always easier when she was busy and had a constant stream of work, practice and friends to keep her occupied.
The dreams were more vivid than ever. Some days she'd wake up with her shirt drenched in cold sweat, her face screwed up in terror. Elin would be there, watching her with sympathetic eyes and waiting with the offer to go get some tea. She never asked too many questions, Elin already understood, and Marigold appreciated that.
At the same time, it was getting easier to convince herself that she was over George. In one of the rare moments that Zach wasn't with them, Marigold had told Diego and Elin about what George had said that night in the corridor.
"Really?" Elin's eyebrows were screwed in confusion, "I could've sworn he was into you."
Marigold shrugged the comment off, "Obviously not. It doesn't matter though, I'm over him."
She'd told herself that so many times since she last saw George that it was becoming easier to believe it. Despite it, when the group sat in silence or while she was lying in bed, Marigold couldn't stop the fantasies that crept into her brain. How her mind reminded her about how beautiful he looked when he laughed, how large his hands were or how they would look wrapped around hers. She found herself replaying memories of him like a broken tape recorder. Moments when they were learning for potions, out in the quad or even in the corridors.
At the same time, across the country, Marigold had become the only thing George could think about anymore.
It had been almost a month since George's dad had been attacked in the Department of Mysteries. They'd been staying at Sirius's place in London while Arthur recovered at St. Mungo's. Of course, his dad's health was George's top priority, but once the family had been reassured that Arthur would be just fine, the thought of Marigold crept back up into the forefront of his mind and made residence there.
He too often found himself staring up at the moldy ceiling of his and Fred's room in Grimmauld place, replaying the events of the last time he saw her. How royally he'd fucked up, how he wished he could go back and eat his words.
Christmas was fast approaching, it was nearly ten days away and the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry and Sirius were lounging at the table after dinner. In the room over, George could hear the echo of Ginny washing the dishes and the faint hum of Celestina Warbeck on the telly.
He was picking uninterested at his slice of pumpkin tart, the banter between his brothers falling deaf on his ears. George was thinking about Marigold again: wondering where she could be at that very moment, what she could be doing. A piece of him hoped that she was thinking of him too.
"Oy, George!"
George looked up abruptly from where he was staring out the curtain. Ron was staring at him, "Did you hear what I asked?"
Suddenly it felt like all their eyes were on him. "No, what?"
"You were thinking about her again, weren't you?" Ron huffed, "You can't even concentrate for five--"
"I was not, you little prat." George's face flared in what he tried to play off as irritation. "Just tell me what you were asking."
At the end of the table, Sirius was watching them - his interest peaked at the conversation's sudden change in direction. "Who's this "her", George?"
George glared at Ron, he looked to Fred for support but his twin simply shrugged and raised his hands in surrender.
"It's nobody, Sirius--"
Ron interrupted him. "George fancies a girl in school, her name's Marigold--"
"You better shut your trap before I hex your giant ears off."
Sirius chuckled heartily, sipping from his wine glass. "Just casual conversation, George. No need to fret. Is she pretty?"
"Yeah," Harry spoke up, "She's pretty--"
"Eh, she's alright." Ron shrugged.
Anger pulsated through George, he disapparated out of his seat with a pop to directly behind Ron. He pulled his wand from his jersey pocket, and pressed it roughly into the soft flesh of Ron's ear. "Say one more word and you're going to be looking for the counter-curse to reattach your nose until school starts."
Ron shoved him off, "Sheesh, relax." He rubbed the then red, tender part of his ear sensitively. George shoved the side of his head before skulking back towards his seat. "I was just joking. I wanted to see what you'd do. Marigold's cute."
"Well, now you know." Fred piped up, rubbing George's shoulder comfortingly as he glared at Ron.
George faced Sirius again, "She's beautiful, Sirius."
The older man smiled at him. "Wouldn't expect anything less, George."
Frowning, George looked back at Ron, "How did you even know about that?"
The only person George had told about Marigold was Fred, and he trusted Fred far too much to assume that he'd spilt anything. Much less to Ronald.
To his surprise, it was Harry who responded. He laughed, "We're not idiots, George. You're not exactly subtle."
George didn't even bother justifying Harry's comment with an answer. He looked back to Ron, "Well stay out of it. Just because your love life is dry, don't come poking around in mine."
He could've sworn he saw Hermione's eyes flicker over to Ron in that instant, but George ignored it.
Ron had the audacity to scoff, "Your "love life"? From what I hear, she's still a single bird. Your "love life" is just as dry as mine."
To George's greatest irritation, Ron had a point. "How much do you value having your nose attached to your face, Ronald?"
__________
Candlelight was peeking out from under the door of the last bedroom at the end of the hallway.
Inside, Fred was lazily sprawled across one of the twin beds, flipping through the Quidditch magazine Harry had borrowed him.
On the opposite bed, George was staring down at the blank sheet of parchment in his lap. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean we haven't spoken since--"
"Stop being a prat, just write."
George played with the quill between his fingers, "And what the fuck am I supposed to say?"
Fred scoffed at him, tossing the magazine aside. "How should I know? She's your bird not mine." He sighed, watching his brother run his hands down his face. "Come on, you know Goldie. She likes sweet things. Be sweet."
Considering him for a moment, George nodded. "Yeah. I'll do that."
He reached for the pot of ink, dipping the end of the quill.
'Dear Marigold--'
"Dear Marigold?" Fred laughed, tossing the magazine at George's head. "Who are you trying to seduce, McGonagall?"
Sighing, George tossed the parchment aside, pulling up a new one, "Fine."
'Hey Knight, (Fred nodded approvingly)
I know we left in a hurry, Dad was attacked by a giant snake. (Fred looked at him incredulously, "Well shit, Georgie, don't sugar coat it." George shrugged him off.) He's alright, though.
I'm staying at --' George looked to Fred, "What is Sirius' relation to us?"
Fred frowned, "Far-removed uncle?"
'--my uncle's place in London. If you're near London, maybe we could meet up? My family is driving me crazy, Fred sends his regards. Not much else going on here, just trying to finish the fuck-ton of homework Umbridge gave us.'
For a moment, George considered writing the next line. He brushed off his anxiety, pressing the tip of the quill back against the parchment.
'I'm thinking of you.
Sincerely,
The better-looking twin.
P.S. You owe me a race around the castle.'
__________